Do you have any tips for shooting a Volleyball game?

Question

Hi, I will be shooting a college volleyball game for the first time tonight (actually my first time shooting any volleyball game) and I was wondering if anyone can give me any tips. I know next to nothing about the game, so info on where to stand, etc would be great.

And for the photography minded people reading this (the above was to the volleyball minded people), what lens should I use?? I have a 70-200 f/4.0 lens, or a 18-55 (I think) lens that came with my rebel xt (a canon digital slr). Which would be better?

Thanks

Answer 1

I believe college volleyball games are all indoor, and I assume you are shooting for your home team. It could be "easier" actually if you do it for both teams.



I think 70-200 will be most useful, but make sure you bring both (or more). 45-55 is for the "standard" and out of that range (especially 18-40) images could be twisted especially any one near the edge of your picture.

You want to stay across to your home-team's bench so that you can take pictures of those on the bench, and coaching staff.

You want to stay across net to your home-team if you are to take some shots of their spiking, but for other pictures you want to stay on the same side of the net with your home-team. For each player on the court, you want to take how they prepare to receive, how they pass, how they dive, row, slide on the floor, how setter sets, and how spiker prepares for approach, jumps, swings and hits the ball.

All those little tiny moments could become the shiniest in one's life. If your camera can take several shots in a row, turn it on. 20-50 or even 100 shots for each player is normal for a 5-set game.

Unless you are taking one single portrait shot, you might not want to set your camera to F4.0 (I understand that is the max or call it the limit). Hopefully you have a default sport setting (which could be just the multi-shot one), so that you can have everything clear. If you need to blur the background, leave it to the Photoshop.

I would recommend that you watch a Big10 Game or any NCAA game on TV and see whether you can get a feel how professionals are selecting their shots, from which angle.

Have fun and good luck in catching a "million-dollar-moment" (just kidding).

Answer 2

Check with the referees to make sure where you can stand.  Many volleyball courts are inside basketball lines and the general boundary for photographers is the basketball lines on the side opposite from the benches.  Most schools have restrictions on flash photography.  

Good luck.  The good thing is that you have a digital camera.  You can keep the good ones and trash the rest.  Take LOTS of pictures, so you have some good ones.

Answer 3

Lighting at the event will be your biggest factor, this time of year, lighting can be nuts.

First, it's light outside, but may be overcast, or glaringly harsh. Then most fields have some sort of artificial lighting, and it can cast very strange shadows and hues. The "orange" lights are the worst!

You may want to ask about a set of sports filters at the local camera store. They filter various light without cutting the intake much. Sports require very high speeds to capture the action, and anything that drops your light is bad.

One nice feature about the new digital cameras is that you can see how the filters effect you as you are taking the pictures.

I'd stick with the 70-200 if it has good quality glass, less moving around, but if the smaller lens is better quality, use it and crop the pics on the computer.